Untended selection of goods is increasingly popular with consumers. From petroleum to food products, purchasers appreciate the immediate satisfaction and lowered cost provided by self-service. Many convenience stores and restaurants provide cafeteria line or serve-yourself type vending of prepared food, often for take-out or on-the-road consumption. Beverages dispensed from a fountain are typically served in paper or plastic cups, which, to prevent spilling, are provided with molded plastic lids. These lids have a resilient flange which snaps into engagement with a bead formed in the lip of the beverage container. Individual cup dispensers have long been available which permit the removal of a single cup without contamination or disturbance of the remaining supply. Container lids, however, differ from cups in that no deep graspable surface is provided.
In order to prevent contamination of the lid supply, especially where multiple users will be drawing on the supply, it is essential that the dispenser isolate the supply of lids from the single lid dispensed. Furthermore, to reduce litter and waste, it is desirable that a dispenser dispense only one lid at a time, a goal complicated by the fact that the resilient plastic lids have a tendency to stick together.
One known lid dispenser utilizes a tightly coiled spring disposed above a dispensing opening, with an attached lever which may be depressed to release a frontmost lid for selection by a consumer. Such a device undesirably permits consumer contact with the supply, and may not deliver the desired repeatable performance in dispensing. Other known dispensers engage the underside of a lid and through a series of linkages extract a single lid. These mechanically complicated devices tend to be overly voluminous and consume excessive countertop space.
What is needed is a compact lid dispenser which repeatably dispenses single lids from a supply which is isolated from contact with the user.